In the past, installation of support systems for modular unit stairs that are prefabricated and carried to the site for installation has presented a time-consuming and tedious operation; thus installation of these stair units have been of considerable expense. Additionally, the stability against shifting or settling of the stair module in the resulting installations, using prior art techniques, often have been unsatisfactory.
The method commonly used, and disclosed for example in connection with FIG. 17 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,378, involves the construction under the stair module of supplementary supporting means in the forms of columns or "piers", usually two or more, which usually comprise stacks of concrete blocks and/or bricks which rest on a suitable concrete footer and which are but up to and abut the underside of one or more steps of the stair module. The footer itself, which rests on an earth base, presents considerable problems in proper construction to produce a footer that is level and resists subsequent settling and/or misalignment. Such piers or columns in prior art support systems are formed from concrete blocks and/or bricks and require that the support system be built under the stair module and from the ground up to provide support for the stair module. To insure proper leveling, in addition to blocks and bricks, shimming is generally needed to attain a precisely leveled plumb condition of the stair unit particularly when the modular stair unit is used and must be precisely aligned with the contiguous swimming wall panels and coping.
It is accordingly apparent that in the past the construction support structures of this kind has been cumbersome and relatively costly to construct. There is, therefore, a need for an improved system for supporting molded one-piece swimming pool stair modules in a relatively expeditious, reliable and less costly manner.